Thursday, November 6, 2008

"Why did you carry your baby like that...like an indon maid". That was my aunty's remark.

"I wish I have one like yours ,you can carry your baby and doing housework in one go". My cousin with 8 children responded to my appearance.

That were 2 contradictory remarks I got whenever I wear my baby.

Yes....babywearing...not a new tradition but was given a new trademark.

What isbaby wearingby the way?

From this site “Babywearing” simply means holding or carrying a baby or young child using a baby carrier.

And it is not an Indonesian trademark, I can say that with confidence.And this babywearing thingy has been around in Europe and US for decades!

So please do not feel surprise when you see more and more Malaysians wear their babies in a piece of cloth or trendy baby carriers.

It just natural to hold your baby close to you. Besides you have both of your hands free to do a lot of things.

I can ensure you that many mothers will appreciate a chance to get their household chores done and their babies are not crying....just ask the housewives around particularly when you have a clingy baby.

And babywearing can be your life saver.

BUT...some people might say...now you have a stroller, why should you have to pamper your child, later he/she can be so 'spoiled'

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with that argument for few reasons :

1. Not everywhere have a stroller friendly area especially in Malaysia. Once, I got scolded by the KTM staff because bringing stroller inside the commuter.

2. Once a child, always a child, so they need their parents esp mothers most of the time so there's no reason for us to scare that we would spoil them. Some more we have only the first few years of their life to bond with them.

3.The closer we get to our children, hopefully the stronger the bond will be and hopefully they will love us forever, whenever they will be in the future.

4. With most of the mothers are working nowadays, a big proportion of the children's time are with the maids, grannies or babysitters so wearing your babies is one way to bond with them.

Other good reasons to wear your baby include it can calm fussy babies, reduce colic leading to happier and healthier babies and confident parents.

Want to know various types of carriers? Just to mention a few - pouch, ring sling, Mei Tai,wrap and soft structure carriers etc....

You just need to google any of them and you will get all the info you need.

And more great news are now we got more and more mothers in Malaysia are into making 'doing-it-yourself" carriers and some are for sale and check this one too if you want to win a free Mei Tai proudly created by our Malaysian mama.

Great news for parents who are in search of carriers with affordable price as imported ones can be very pricey !

So, parents out there, let us baby wearing because we carry the future.....

Ummuzulfa6 Nov 2008

Note : The dissemination of this entry is very much welcome but please put my link for clarification purposes. And most of the photos are from my personal collection, please ask for my permission before anybody want to use them.Thank you